Major League Fishing to Compete in Nacogdoches

Major League Fishing will begin its 7th season of filming as MLF’s 12 top anglers compete in the General Tire World Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops in the waters near Nacogdoches, Texas, from March 6-11, 2017, and the organization holds a meet and greet with boat officials and other personnel at Clear Springs Restaurant on Saturday, March 11, from 11:30-1 p.m.

The television series features 12 of the top anglers in the country and includes Bassmaster Classic champions, Toyota Angler of the Year winners and title-holders from the Bassmaster Elite Series. Anglers will compete across the lakes in six days of competition, and at the end of competition, the first ever MLF World Champion will be crowned.

These televised matches air on CBS and CBS Sports Network in June and July 2017. The airings will mark the largest and first-ever consecutive six-week bass fishing series to run on national broadcast television, a precedent for the sport. The six one-hour MLF championship episodes will begin airing Saturday, June 24, 2017, at 2 p.m. EST on CBS, which among its 200 television stations and affiliates reaches nearly every home in the United States.

"This World Championship has been a dream of mine since the beginning when conservationist and Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris first asked me what we could do to bring the sport of bass fishing to a broader audience," said Jim Wilburn, MLF general manager. "With this new competition and the partnership with CBS, we're finally achieving that dream and look forward to sharing the sport with an even wider audience than before. Major League Fishing is a trail blazer and this is just one more ground breaking first!"

Major League Fishing anglers competing in Texas cannot be named at this time as it would reveal the results of the television programs currently airing on Outdoor Channel. The 12 anglers competing in the World Championship were determined by the final point standings accumulated from their participation in 2016 and 2017 events. The 12 championship contenders will be announced at the conclusion of the 2017 Challenge Cup in June, the last event of the 2017 regular fishing season.

“We’re thrilled for some of our top anglers to fish in some of the outstanding fisheries that have produced so many great catches,” Randy White, executive producer, said. “These east Texas lakes regularly produce record catches and we believe, based on our scouting and the suggestion of our Pros, that this really is a great area for the MLF format of fishing.”

First developed in 2011 through a partnership between the Outdoor Channel and professional anglers, MLF has grown steadily since. In 2015, MLF added a second level of competition with the introduction of its Select events that doubled the scope of the program. Major League Fishing normally airs on Outdoor Channel, America’s leader in outdoor television.

About Major League Fishing
Developed through a joint effort between Outdoor Channel and two dozen premier bass fishing anglers in 2011, Major League Fishing brings the high-intensity sport of competitive bass fishing into America’s living rooms in the form of riveting two-hour TV episodes. Twenty-four world-class anglers are filmed over the course of a six-day event. The show captures their efforts as they utilize a demanding format that allows them to weigh all the “scorable bass” they catch. Unlike other competitive fishing events, live leaderboards in the boats allow anglers to know their standings at all times. For more information about the game, visit www.majorleaguefishing.com and follow Major League Fishing on Twitter, Instagram and on Facebook.